This morning I told our congregation a little about our family’s thanksgivings. My wife Pam has 3 sisters and a brother. All her siblings are married and have anywhere between 1 and 7 children. At last count Pam’s mom and dad have 20 grandchildren; five of them are married and have 4 great grandchildren among them. Needless to say, family gatherings can be quite an event. They were even quite an event over twenty years ago while Pam and I were dating. If you can’t tell by now, our family is not from around here. Pam and I both grew up in Allentown, PA. If you’re a Billy Joel fan, you know he wrote a song about Allentown. Even while we were dating, the family gathering could be quite large. There could be as many as twenty three people for dinner. There is a funny story associated with my first Thanksgiving dinner with the Christmans. I went to Pam’s house after attending my family’s noon dinner. We had, as most people do, leftovers for the evening meal. We were finishing up and getting ready for desert. Remember that I’m a newcomer to all of this. My future brother-in-law, Danny asked if I would like some pumpkin pie and I said “Sure.” He took the pie from the pan and placed it on my plate. My future mother-in-law in horror, said, “You can’t serve pie on that plate he used for dinner, get him a dessert plate. Well, Danny takes the pie off my plate with his fingers, waits for a dessert plate to appear and then places it on the dessert plate. How is that for an introduction to the family? We have had a lot of great times together. As the family grows and the grandchildren have kids of their own it gets tougher to get the whole family together which would now number about 40.

I finally obeyed God’s call into the ministry about 14 years ago. In those fourteen years, we’ve lived in Indiana, Michigan, New York, and now Virginia. If you wonder why some words sound funny, it’s because we’ve picked up little pieces of dialect here and there.

Tonight, I want to take a look at Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount. We want to take a look at Matthew 6:25-33:

²⁵ “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

We are blessed people. I count among my good comrades in the ministry, Mark Wilson. Mark is a pastor in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. He has a great weblog titled, “Revitalize Your Church.” Mark has a passion to help pastors in small, rural communities like ours. We have become great friends, mainly through our weblogs. Back in October, just for fun he posted the question in the form of a test, “How Rich are You?” I was humbled by the results. I was in the top 4% richest people in the world. I punched in some other numbers and became aware how truly blessed we are. After that humbling experience, I wrote back to Mark this comment.

That was a humbling experience. I wanted to see how little you had to make to be in the top 25%. In order to be in that category, you only have to make $1,500 a year. Most Americans are in the top 15%. I guess we should stop belly-aching and start thanking God more. Thanks for helping put this into perspective.

How many times to we do exactly the opposite of what Jesus wants us to do? Jesus tells us not to worry and we do. He tells us not to worry about what we eat or what we drink or what we wear, but we do. He reminds us how God has clothed the trees and the fields. He reminds us how God has provided for the sparrows and the lilies of the field. If God cares for His creation, how much more does he care for us?

Let me show you how this works in my own life and I’m sure it’s happened to you. All of us like to go away on vacation. But we also want to make sure that nothing happens to our stuff while we are away. Sometime we worry about it. I know that I have. I’ve worried about someone breaking into the house, or even worse a fire devouring our treasures. This is not the way that God wants us to live. Jesus cuts to the quick. He asks us if worrying will add any time to our life? I think we can answer that it won’t and it might even shorten our life.

We get so caught up in “keeping up with the Jones,” or as I was reading Thursday night, people were camped out in front of stores to get their hands on one of the new Playstation 3 gaming units. Here is what is even more amazing. They weren’t camping out in front of the store just so they could buy it for themselves, they were going to buy it and then resell it at an enormous profit on E-Bay. We in America are good at looking out for number one. But as we look at Jesus teaching, we see that we should be looking out for God’s kingdom first. My family has been in Martinsville now about 18 months. My family first met you a year ago tonight. I, however, was at home getting over the stomach bug my daughter had given me. I remember that night worrying about how the service would go. In hindsight, there was no need to worry, God took care of everything.

It is so easy to get caught up in our culture, to get caught up in the materialism, to get caught up in the worry about things. What we really need to do is worry about the Kingdom of God. I’m glad that our churches meet together for worship. My prayer is that we could do it more often. We need each other. There are not too many Sundays that go by at our church that I don’t mention working for God’s kingdom. Matthew 6:33 has been a favorite of mine for years and I need to be constantly reminded of it. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

We should constantly be seeking the Kingdom of God, nothing else is worth it. God has called us to live righteous lives; lives that are pleasing to Him. And when we seek His kingdom first and live the life He wants us to live, He will give us what we need. Notice, not everything we want, but what we need.

Following God’s call was not easy. When God called me into the ministry, I left a well paying job, we had a modest home in the city, we were living real close by to my parents and only two hours away from Pam’s mom and dad. We had it all, or so I thought. God called us to Indiana, many hours away from family. I went from having a great job to a minimum wage job and going to college with two kids at home. If you ask my kids, those were some of the greatest times of our life. Our family night consisted of going to Hill’s Department Store (a discount store with a snack bar), getting free popcorn for the kids and buying two large fountain drinks and sitting down and enjoying each others company. Several times during those days, groceries would miraculously show up at the door. We had friends who showered us with zucchini and tomatoes. God has rewarded us. He took care of our small family in Indiana and he is taking care of us now. God is amazing when you are building his kingdom.

Let me finish with Paul’s words from Colossians 3:15-17:

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This passage calls us to do the work of God, but in each verse we are to do it with gratitude and thankfulness. When we do, it gives God all the honor and praise that He deserves from His children.

In just a few days, your pastor and his family are making our annual pilgrimage to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving. Since Pam and I have been married we can count the number of times we have missed this occasion on one hand. The very first was back in 1990 and by this time we had been going there 6 years. The occasion was that Pam was pregnant with Anna and due any time. There is no way we wanted to have her in York with strange doctors! I believe that we missed Thanksgiving once while in Indiana. We missed it our last year in NY, because of staffing issues at RadioShack and we missed it last year. You’ll have to ask Pam, but I believe that is about the total over almost 20 years. Thanksgiving at Pam’s family is a big deal. Over 30 people gather each year at rotating locations. We are now too big to meet at anyone’s house. This gathering only includes Pam’s mom and dad and brother and sisters and their families. It just happens that the nieces and nephews that Pam babysat while we were dating are now dating and getting married. So you can see Pam’s family is faithful to God’s command, “Be fruitful and multiply.” It is quite the event with turkey and “potato filling.” (It’s a Pennsylvania Dutch thing; however, it’s my favorite. There are never any leftovers.) There is usually a game of football and other “unusual” games and we have a great time. I am looking forward to Tuesday evening as we pack up the car and head north. What does it mean to be thankful? Let’s look at Psalm 95 this morning. There are many verses that could be used but I like this one.

¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD ;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

Look at the four commands given to us by God. First, we must come then we must:

• Sing for joy
• Shout aloud
• Come with thanksgiving
• Extol him with music

We come each Sunday to do this. Many of you shared what you are thankful for this morning. Did you do it with the attitude the Psalmist tells us we should; Joyful singing, Loud shouting, with thanksgiving and song? Why are we commanded to praise him in this way.

³ For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

Everything was made by him the Psalmist declares, the depths of the earth and the mountain peaks, the seas and the dry land. That just about covers everything. We even sang about it this morning, All hail the power of Jesus name, the name that is above all including angels.

⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

Have you noticed all the commands regarding worship and praise and thanksgiving?

⁷ for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸ do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the desert,
⁹ where your fathers tested and tried me,
though they had seen what I did.

What is the Psalmist saying here, let’s backtrack to Exodus 17:6 and 7.

⁶ I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

¹⁰ For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.”
¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,
“They shall never enter my rest.”

Look at the dangers of not offering God the praise and thanksgiving he deserves. This morning I encourage you to see what you are thankful for this week and not only this week but throughout the year. Psalm 95 is good all the time, not only during thanksgiving. We are going to close this morning with more music. Remember what the Psalmist declares in verse 1? We are going to declare our thankfulness to God through song.